


All this time

by mordredllewelynjones



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Drabble, M/M, One Shot, Soulmarks, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, Summer of Gotham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 22:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15129155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mordredllewelynjones/pseuds/mordredllewelynjones
Summary: Despite all the uncertainty that came with life in Gotham, Oswald Cobblepot had always been sure of one thing. After the death of his mother, however, he finds out that things may not have been as he had at first suspected.A soulmate au oneshot drabble for the Summer of Gotham week 4 prompt. (I have never written a soulmate au.)No sex or rude stuff in this story.





	All this time

Soulmarks. One of the biggest mysteries a person would encounter during their life time and one that some spent their entire time on this planet trying to solve. Why they even existed was a mystery in itself. Yet, for some reason, everyone was born with a sentence written on their arm, a sentence that only they could see. This sentence was their soulmark and it served as a vital clue to finding ones soulmate. It didn't necessarily mean a romantic or sexual soulmate, in fact many people often found that their soulmarks pointed them in the direction of their closest friend or even a family member. Some even found themselves matched with their worst enemies. The sentence that was forever imprinted on the skin was a sentence uttered by your soulmate during a defining moment in your relationship, whether it be when you first fell in love, when you first met or some other moment entirely. There was no context with soulmarks and no name to go with them. To know when one had found their soulmate they simply had to wait and see whether one day those words they had grown up searching for would be said. Some people waited their whole lives only to find out in their last moments that their soulmate had been with them the whole time. Whether one found their soulmate early on in life or not, however, it was a quest filled with many unexpected turns and for some it was a road more dangerous than they could possibly imagine.

  
______________________________________________________________________________

  
'And nothing can warm me more than my, my mothers love.'

  
Those words had always been bitter sweet for Oswald. They were the lyrics to a lullaby that his mother had sung to him since birth to send him to sleep and to comfort him when all seemed lost. Yet they also held a deeper meaning that only Oswald knew and it was one that filled him with a secret sorrow. As soon as he was old enough to read he had recognised those words at once, the words that his mother always sang to him where the words that made up his soul mark. To a young boy, bullied and friendless, it had all but broken his heart. His natural and logical assumption had been that his mother was his soulmate which although reassuring in some ways was disheartening in others. Did this mean that he would never find a friend? Was his mother the only person in the world capable of loving him? Why did no one else see him as someone worthy of friendship or compassion? Would it ever change or would he spend his whole life being down trodden by those around him with only his mother to turn to when it all got too much? It was questions like these that plagued Oswald's mind as a child and that would ultimately shape him into a man that would influence Gotham city in a way no one would have imagined.

  
As people grew older, soulmarks became almost the top priority. Once they started high school all anyone could talk about was who their soulmate might be. When they finished their education some even spent their gap year traveling around the world in the hope of finding the person that their mark pointed to. It was during this time of distraction that Oswald was able to make use of the security that came with already knowing the answer to one of life's greatest secrets. Whilst others were chasing after the possibility of true love or trying to find a sense of purpose, Oswald was putting his keen mind to good use. With his mother at his side he had no need to even spare a passing thought to his soulmark so instead he set his sights down an altogether different route. Over the years he had learned a lot of harsh but useful lessons and one of those was that someone who was seen as a victim was never suspected as a threat. His days of being bullied in the playground may have ended but that didn't mean that he wasn't underestimated and underappreciated by those around him. Instead of despairing, as he had done as a child, however, he instead used this to his advantage. It was incredible how far one could go simply by playing on other peoples assumptions. They saw nothing more than a snivelling, pathetic, helpless nobody which made them blind to what they were truly dealing with. The future king of Gotham.

  
______________________________________________________________________________

  
Edward Nygma was lucky in one respect. He may have had a horrible childhood and his adult life started with little promise of being much better but he had a hint to the most important riddle that he would ever encounter and the way he saw it, that made him one of the luckiest and most special people in the world. You see, it was very rare to get context in ones soulmark. You never got a name, that was unheard of and maybe even impossible. However, Ed had a rare advantage when it came to the mystery of his soulmate.

  
Gotham. Within the other wise rather generic sentence that was his soulmark was this one tiny clue, the one thing that helped him to hold on through all the hardships he encountered and carry on fighting until tomorrow. The dark and nightmarish city, though perceived as an almost apocalyptic death trap by most people who lived outside its walls, was a beacon of hope to a young Edward and he could barely contain his excitement when he finally moved to Gotham to start university. Here he would finally be accepted and valued. Or so he thought. Even with more to go on than most, finding his soulmate proved to be a seemingly impossible challenge and the rest of the cities inhabitants were largely the sort of people liable to make your life worse as apposed to better. His hopefulness began to wane and he soon found that he had given up his search altogether. Surely, after years of searching, he would have found them by now? There could only be so many places to hide in this city. Yet despite his constant efforts he was no closer to knowing who his soulmate was. Perhaps it was better to forget about it, he often wondered. To settle into the steady rhythm of a life spent alone and learn to live with it.

  
Murder seemed to change everything. Not that it had been part of the plan, of course. In fact the whole thing had been very spur of the moment. The passing of Officer Dougherty, however, had the side effect of opening the door to a whole knew side of life for Ed. Romance. It took time but in the months after her boyfriends 'disappearance' Kristen Kringle, who had previously been unimpressed by his attempts to win her affections, had softened towards Edward and their relationship had blossomed. Death had not yet had its fill though, it seemed. Before he knew it Ed was stood over another body and this time it was Kristen's. Whatever small hopes he had had of one day finding his soulmate vanished that night. Who could love a monster? And even if they did, it would be unsafe for them to be with him. He was better off alone. Fate, however, had other ideas.

  
___________________________________________________________________________________

  
Theo and Tabitha Galavan would bring about the turning point in both Ed and Oswald's lives though none of them knew it. The Galavans were on a mission and were well accustomed to getting what they wanted. Oswald wasn't the king of Gotham for nothing, though, and he made his feelings about becoming Theo's lapdog quite clear. That was when tragedy decided to rear its ugly head. In an attempt to get Oswald to yield Theo had Tabitha kill Oswald's mother and as Oswald clutched Gertrud tightly during her final moments he felt as though the world was crashing down around his ears. His mother was all he had and she had died because of him. He escaped with life, but not without serious injury, and hid in the woods where he expected to die. Alone and in pain, riddled with guilt and grief. What he didn't bank on, however, was the young man who had chosen that day to hide the body of his decently departed girlfriend in the forest.

  
__________________________________________________________________________________

  
"And nothing can warm me more than my, my mothers love."

  
Oswald blinked slowly as he lifted his head off the pillow. For a moment he forgot what had happened, where he was and who he was with. As the mist of sleep lifted, however, he realised with gut wrenching sorrow that the voice singing was not his mothers. Instead it was Ed Nygma, an annoying and somewhat creepy forensic scientist from the GCPD who had brought him back from the brink of death, who was sat at the piano. "Why are you singing this song?" Oswald asked in a choked voice. Ed stopped singing and turned to face him.

  
"I can bring tears to your eyes and resurrect the dead. I form in an instant and last a lifetime. What am I?"

  
"A memory. So what?"

  
"You were humming this under your covers" Ed told him patiently "I figured it has meaning for you." Oswald chuckled before sniffing loudly. Ed had no idea. "Every night when I was young, my mother would sing that song to me when I was going to bed" he sobbed "And every time, she would tell me, 'Oswald, don't listen to the other children. You're handsome and clever and some day you will be a great man.' She said that every time." There was a pause and tears trickled down his face as Edward smiled at him sympathetically, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "That's all I have left now" Penguin continued shakily "Memories. And they are like daggers in my heart." "Not forever" Ed replied, trying to sound reassuring but simply coming across as patronising. Oswald stared at him in disbelief as Ed, for not the first time since Oswald had regained consciousness earlier that day, launched into a story about his dead girlfriend. Quite frankly, Oswald had had enough.

  
"This little visit is over" he snapped as he struggled to untangle himself from the sheets "I will simply bid you adieu." Injured as he was he didn't think he could stand staying here a minute longer. He made to leave but Ed jumped up from the bed to stop him. "Mr Penguin" he cried as he got to his feet but his attitude changed entirely once he had blocked Oswald's path. He suddenly seemed much colder, almost cruel, and when he next spoke there was no trace of the excitable babbling man Oswald had been plagued with up until now.

  
"For some men, love can be a source of strength but for you and I, it will always be our most crippling weakness."

  
"Move aside, Ed."

  
"We are better off unencumbered."

  
Oswald took a deep, shuddering breath; his temper almost at boiling point. Was Edward suggesting what he thought he was suggesting? If he was then he would live to regret it. Or not live at all, as the case may be. "What did you say?" Penguin gasped. "You said it yourself" Ed snarled "Your mother is dead because of your weakness but what you need to realise is that your weakness was her." Oswald's vision went red with rage as he whipped round, grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and shoved it under Ed's chin, letting out a menacing growl as he did so.

  
"My mother was a saint!" he bellowed, furious at how his voice was cracking, a fresh wave of sobs threatening to engulf him at any second "The only person who truly cared about me and now she's gone! And I have nothing left!" Edward didn't understand. How could he? As if killing some girl who he'd been dating even came close to everything Oswald had lost. His mother was had been his only family, his only friend, his soulmate. This manipulative loser had no idea about the amount of pain he was in, but Penguin would soon change that.

  
Credit where credit is due, Ed didn't even flinch as the small man screamed in his face and held a blade to his throat. In fact he looked as calm as ever and continued to dig himself deeper into his 'hole' as though he wasn't within spitting distance of his own demise. "A man with nothing he loves is a man that cannot be bargained" he said, staring down into Oswald's eyes confidently "A man that cannot be betrayed. A man who answers to no one but himself and that is the man I see before me. A free man."

  
Oswald gazed up at him, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps as he lowered his makeshift weapon with trembling hands. It wasn't for a reason that Ed could possibly have predicted, however. He no doubt thought it was due to his manipulation skills or simply because Penguin had seen some sense in what he had had to say but that wasn't the case at all. Sure, Ed's certainty and conviction had played a apart but given his current emotion state Oswald wasn't in a place where he was able to even consider the fact that his love for his mother could in any way be considered a weakness.

  
No, it was the certainty in which Ed had placed in him that had made him stay his hand. Whether Ed was being honest or manipulating him was beside the point, what mattered was that he could say that he saw a man strong enough to fight on and make it sound so convincing that Oswald believed him and as a result, believed in himself. No one other than his mother had ever done that for him. It seemed that, much like himself, Ed Nygma was a man who was easily underestimated, Oswald thought. The man knew how to put forward an argument and turn a situation round to suit his own needs, that was for sure and Oswald couldn't help but grudgingly admire that in spite of everything. Perhaps they understood each other better than they thought. They were like minded in several respects, that much was clear. Maybe Ed was right, maybe it was fate that had brought them together.

  
It was as this thought crossed his mind that Oswald remembered something and he nearly cried out in shock. He grasped his forearm tightly, not needing to roll up his sleeve to check the words that were written there for he knew them off by heart. He must be mistaken surely. It had to be a coincidence. Yet for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that that wasn't the case. Singing a lullaby, fetching Leonard. These kindnesses weren't necessary. Edward had him at his mercy and could easily manipulate him in whatever way he pleased. Yet it seemed that in some way the man was looking just as much for a kindred spirit as he was for advice on how to embrace his murderous tendencies. The way he had referred to their meeting in the woods as fate, the way he smiled at him. Perhaps he knew or at least suspected, as Oswald now did, that there was a chance that they would come to mean more to one another than anyone could have expected. Perhaps he too felt that there was a chance that he had just found his soulmate.

  
Oswald didn't say any of this of course. He had learned that in Gotham it paid to be cautious and to trust no one or very few. He would wait to see what happened, where this new chapter in his life would take him. After all, his mother was now dead and his empire was no doubt already in ruins so he had nothing left to lose. He would let Ed believe that his words had swayed him and see how the man would react. Would his friendly attitude and shows of kindness cease when he got what he wanted or would their alliance grow into something more? It was a risky game to play to be sure but in all honesty Oswald couldn't bare the thought of continuing through life alone. If there was a chance that he would find his soulmate, or even just a friend tread the dark path with him, then he would take it.

  
______________________________________________________________________

  
It was a long and bumpy road, however. Though they soon became fast friends, Arkham split the two of them apart on more than one occasion and that was not the only thing that the city had to throw at them. After Oswald's suffering at the hands of Hugo Strange it seemed as though a wedge had been driven between them, Ed was fixated on his plan to dispose of Jim Gordon and Oswald's reformation made him more of a hindrance than a help so Edward turned him away. Still, despite how his so called friend had abandoned him in his hour of need, Oswald found it impossible get Ed out of his head. Even after his return to crime, even when he once again had the city grovelling at his feet he still felt the emptiness that the loss of his friendship with Ed had left. In the end he gave in. After the death of his father Oswald had had enough of loosing those he held dear to him so in spite of everything he decided to pay Edward a visit in Arkham. He knew how terrible that place could be and how badly Ed would no doubt be in need of a friend.

  
After that things seemed to go as smooth as silk. They were soon thick as thieves once more and it wasn't long before Oswald managed to twist a few arms and bend a few rules to get Ed released. By now he felt almost certain that his hunch was correct, that Edward was his soulmate, yet still he moved slowly. He asked Ed to help him with his mayoral campaign and to subsequently join him at his side as his chief of staff, not just because he was the best man for the job but also because he wanted Ed close to him. And for a while everything was perfect. when Butch was revealed as a traitor and made an attempt on Edward's life Oswald finally realised that the time for playing it safe had passed. It was time to tell Ed about the deep feelings of affection that he had come to feel for him and he felt safe in the knowledge that Edward undoubtedly felt the same.

  
Then Isabella came. Oswald couldn't understand it. He and Ed were soulmates, he was sure of it and it has seemed that Ed had known it too. Yet as soon as the blonde librarian with a thing for dangerous criminals and a face the spitting image of Kristen Kringle's walked into Ed's life it was as though Ed had ceased to feel the special bond that he and Oswald had shared. Isabella had to go. Penguin tried to make her death seem like a an accident to divert suspicion but that was mainly for the sake of the police, even if Edward did deduce the reason behind her demise Oswald doubted it would make much difference in the long run. Isabella was surely a passing distraction, a reminder of Ed's former life and now that she was gone surely her influence over Ed would fade soon enough.

  
He couldn't have been more wrong. What followed was a mess of, hurt, anger and betrayal on both sides resulting in both of them trying desperately to out do and/or kill the other. But even when it came to the point were it seemed as though things were all but lost Oswald couldn't kill Ed. The Riddler had shot him and dumped him Gotham river, disrespected his father grave and attempted to drive him mad yet he still couldn't kill him no matter what he said to the contrary. Having Mr Freeze put him on ice, quite literally, was a good cover up. All it took was a few simple lies about wanting to make an example of his most hated foe to stop people from talking. After all, he didn't want to appear weak and to let it be known that Ed was his soulmate would just give all those who apposed him another way to manipulate him. He had had enough of his feelings being exploited.

  
Still, despite everything he still loved Edward, deep down and the guilt began to eat away at him though that remained a secret that he would never share. There were times, late at night when he couldn't sleep, when he had considered letting Ed go and finally facing the consequences of his actions but the anger and pain that still made its home in his heart always managed to talk him out of it. However, The Riddler failed to remain frozen forever and even though Oswald sent a few parties out to retrieve him he was secretly glad when they didn't succeed although he had to admit he found Ed's mental state after he left the ice troubling. The man was a shadow of his former self, pathetic and stupid, and there was chance that it was all Oswald's fault. In letting his jealousy get the better of him he had lost everything he held dear.It was fates cruel joke, Oswald supposed, to join him with a man who wanted him dead. Perhaps he had been destined to be soulmates with his worst enemy all along and Isabella had simply been the universes way of bringing it about. Either way, Oswald was done with all of it. He swore of friendship of any kind, it only got his hopes up then left him heartbroken. Even when Ed wasn't involved it ended the same. He was better off alone.

  
Sofia Falcone had other plans. Returning to Gotham so as to take over her fathers former 'kingdom' she had only one true obstacle in her way. Penguin, a man notorious for letting his emotions cloud his judgement. At first she extended the hand of friendship, making as though she had no interest in reclaiming her fathers empire in attempt to get closer to her enemy. It was during this time that Oswald met Martin, a small and devious little boy who was just as alone as Oswald felt and he immediately bonded with him. It had been a long time since Oswald had anyone a kin to family in his life, which is why when Sofia used the boy against him he was powerless to stop her. To fight back would put Martin at risk and he could not allow that to happen. As Edward had once said, love was about sacrifice and if Oswald had to rot in Arkham to protect the boy then so be it.  
That all changed after a simple letter delivered to Edward containing a thinly vailed code. It was a long shot but Oswald hoped that despite everything the man he secretly still loved, that wonderful genius who he had once trusted with his life, was still in there somewhere and luckily he was right. With The Riddler at his side Oswald was able to escape Arkham and the two of them set about bringing Sofia's reign to an end with a vengeful Lee coming along for the ride. After Ed had rescued Martin and hidden him safe from harms way the three of them set about Ed's, admitted crazy plan, to get Oswald close enough to Sofia so that he could end her once and for all. However, things took an unexpected turn.

  
_____________________________________________________________________________

  
The gulls cawed over head and the horns from the distant freight ships echoed across the water as Ed was rudely shoved towards the edge of the dock and forced down onto his knees by Sofia's burly henchmen. He didn't need to be able to see behind him to know that they both had their guns pointed at the back of his head. This was the end.  
"Hey, I've got a riddle for you. What's got a bullet in its head and sinks to the bottom of the river? You."

  
The two men laughed cruelly at their dim witted joke as Edward resisted the urge to just snatch their guns off them and finish their job for them. He couldn't take much more this but then he guessed that give their surroundings he soon wouldn't have to. "The real torture" he replied, the metallic taste of blood still fresh in his mouth as his jaw throbbed "Is that those idiotic words will be the last I ever hear." There was a pause, the two buffoons obviously wrong footed by how calm their victim was in the face of his impending doom. "Just do it!" Ed screamed.

  
He was ready to die, had been for a while if truth be told. The constant struggle of alternately suppressing, embracing and balancing the 'Riddler' side of himself had taken its toll and on top of all the other hardships in his life he had reached the point where he had had enough. There was not much point in fighting, Oswald was no doubt making Sofia suffer at this very moment so Ed's job was done. Oswald didn't need him anymore so he had no real reason to try and change what fate had decided. He closed his eyes and sighed. At least it would be quick.

  
Still, there was one childish thought that ate away at him as he waited for the fatal shot. His whole life had been for nothing. For as long as he could remember every decision he had made had been in the hope that one day he would find the one person in the world who was made for him. His move to Gotham and pretty much every other action before and since had happened simply because he was trying to find his soulmate. From his work at the GCPD to his crime sprees across the city, they had all been attempts to try and find them. And where were they now? He was alone, in pain and about to die with no chance at salvation. He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for them yet he would perish without them even having the decency to reveal their identity to him. His anger at the insult gave way to an intense feeling of despair as he made a valiant but ultimately vane attempt to hold back the tears that slowly started to trickle down his cheeks. Perhaps even his soulmate thought that he wasn't good enough, not worthy enough of love just as his parents had done? If that was the case then may death be swift in its work for he had no hope left.

  
Bang! Bang!

  
Ed's eyes flew open in alarm as the two bodies hit the floor. Grabbing hold of one of the late henchmen's guns he whipped round wildly to confront the mystery gunman, thoroughly convinced that this would be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. "Oswald?" he gasped in confusion as Penguin limped towards him, gun in hand. He was the last person that Edward had expected to see.

  
"Did you already kill Sofia?" Ed asked, wondering how on earth Penguin had managed to get here so quickly. Surely there hadn't been enough time for him to exact his revenge before coming Ed's rescue. At least it seemed like a rescue, with their history it could go either way. "No, she left the mansion to pursue Jim Gordon" Oswald replied calmly but not quite managing to hide his disappointment and fury at an opportunity wasted. "Why didn't you just stay at the home, wait until she came there and killed her?" Edward pointed out as he tried to get a grasp on the situation. To brave the risks they had all taken today to get Oswald close enough to her kill her only for him to abandon the endeavour when he was so close to succeeding was unthinkable. He had to be missing something. "Well then I wouldn't have been here on time" Oswald said simply and Ed suddenly found himself with more questions than he had had before. After everything they had been through, why would Oswald go to such lengths and give up so much to save him? Ed was a means to an end in Penguin's plans, surely? They were both cemented in their roles as enemies now, neither of them able to go back to the way things were even if they wanted to, or so Ed had assumed. Why would he matter to Oswald now?

  
"You gave up your revenge for me?"

  
"Trust is so very hard to find in Gotham but I trust you, Ed."

  
Ed's gun clattered to the floor as he let out a sharp gasp before rolling up his sleeve and staring at his forearm in shock and disbelief. He had what was written there committed to memory but he felt a powerful need to check all the same. He almost forgot to breath as he read and re-read the words of his soulmark, the same words that Oswald had just uttered with such raw emotion. "It's you?! It's been you all this time?!" Edward choked finally with a pained and pleading expression. He wasn't sure whether he wanted it to be true or not. Oswald blinked at him in amazement, his mouth parted slightly, as the realisation hit him. "You didn't know?" he whispered. He couldn't believe it. He had been so sure that Edward had known right from the start but looking back now it suddenly made sense. He chuckled weakly as his eyes filled with tears. "What does yours say?" Edward asked at length. He was still unsure how he felt about all this but he needed to know when Oswald had realised what he had not.

  
"And nothing can warm me more than my, my mothers love."

  
Oswald's voice trembled as he quietly sang the lullaby that his mother used to sing to him as a child, the one that Ed had taught himself to play back in what seemed almost like another life time. So much had changed since then. A long silence followed as Ed let everything sink in, Oswald watching him fearfully as he did so, waiting for the inevitable rejection. Only it didn't come.

  
Ed felt as though the word was spinning, thoughts and emotions running wild as he tried to come to terms with the situation. He should be angry, angry that Oswald had kept this from him, angry that that the universe had seen fit to pair him with the man that had murdered his girlfriend, the man who had betrayed his trust and ruined their friendship with his inability to control his jealousy. Now though he found that the rage he had once felt had all but evaporated. Looking back now, knowing what he hadn't before, Isabella's death didn't really hurt anymore. At the time he had been distraught, having convinced himself that she was his soulmate, a second chance at normality that had once been possible before the untimely death of Miss Kringle. Now though he could see what he hadn't been able to before, looking as he had been through the rose tinted lens of new love, Isabella had not been right for him and as in experienced as he was in the territory of healthy relationships there were a few things that he noticed that hadn't seemed good at all. All that was in the past now.

  
Oswald's betrayal still hurt, of course. Nothing would ever change that. Yet even in the course of one day Ed had seen enough to know that things had changed or at least enough to make him believe that change was possible. The way Oswald cared for Martin and tried to protect him showed that Oswald at least partial understood what Ed had once told him, love is a sacrifice. Indeed, Oswald had just sacrificed his chance at revenge on Sofia for Edward when he could have just let him die at Gotham docks like Oswald had almost done at Ed's hands last year. Could it be that Oswald still loved him? Even if he didn't, Ed thought, he trusted him and that was all they really needed. They would be alright.

  
Stepping over the bodies of Sofia's henchmen Ed walked over slowly to stand at Oswald's side, swallowing nervously as he tried to decide how he was going to put a voice to what was going through his mind. "I have a strong desire to never ever see this peer again" he said finally and forcefully, taking one last look across the water that had once calmed him but now only brought back painful memories. Time to move on. "Oh, I agree" Oswald replied before turning to leave, trying to hide his feelings behind his bravado. He looked back in amazement when Ed suddenly darted forward and grabbed hold of his freezing cold hands, pulling him round to face him as he fixed him with a fearful yet resolute stare. The was a moment of quiet uncertainty as Ed gently entwined their fingers, softly caressing Oswald's hands with his own before he eventually he let out a frustrated sigh, resting his forehead against Oswald's as he moved to cup the smaller mans face in his hands. Oswald simply gazed back at him incredulously, scarcely daring to believe what was happening as he leant instinctively into Edward's touch.

  
"I always loved you too, you know. I just couldn't see it or perhaps I just didn't want to. I don't know what is going to happen to us now but I hope that one day we will be able to fix whatever it is that has happened between us."

  
Oswald placed a small chaste kiss on the palm of Ed's hand, closing his eyes with a contend sigh as he enjoyed the peace between them. "I know we will" he murmured.

  
                                                                                                                       The End.


End file.
